Nn Rejects Ivy Farms Pawn Shop

"I'm not disparaging my client," Sarfan told the City Council on Tuesday. "Or anyone's client. But that's about the low-end of the retail market."

Sarfan's client was opposed to another pawnshop opening down the block, near the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Ivy Farms Road. More than 200 residents signed a petition opposing the second pawnshop, which Alex Gartsman wanted to open in an old KFC store.

The council sided with the residents and denied Gartsman the permission he needed.

Last week, Gartsman met with residents to draw up a list of agreements about what he would and wouldn't do at his proposed shop. Less than 10 attended the meeting.

He wouldn't sell guns, swords or other weapons.

He wouldn't sell cars or other vehicles.

There'd be landscaping.

And a fence out back.

No loud alarms. No blinking signs. No loitering.

And so on.

Tom Shanks was one of the residents who spoke against Garts-man's shop.

After hearing the prospective owner speak and reading a story about him in Tuesday's paper, Shanks said Gartsman is the kind of businessman he'd like to have in the area.

But he doesn't want another pawnshop.

Gartsman has owned a pawnshop in Hampton for seven years.

"I'd like to see him do something there," Shanks said after the meeting. "Something like a music studio."

The son of an engineer and a doctor, Gartsman is a violinist who has sat in with symphonies from Savannah to Boston.

Vice Mayor Charles Allen said he'd vote against Gartsman's request because of the residents' opposition. Other members apparently agreed, joining Allen unanimously in a 5-0 vote.

Mayor Joe Frank and Council-man Bert Bateman abstained from the vote because they had conflicts of interest.

The vote means that Gartsman can't open a store that makes loans on collateral that banks wouldn't normally take, according to Gartsman's attorney, Arthur Kamp.

But the building is in a commercial district, so he can still open a store that buys and sells stuff - or many other types of business - without special permission from the city.

Gartsman said after the meeting that he hadn't decided what he would do with the building.

"No hard feelings," he said.

Jeff Long can be reached at 247-4760 or by e-mail at jlong@dailypress.com